No Way Jorge

Unbelievable. What was Jorge Posada thinking when he elbowed his way past Jesse Carlson last night? Or was he? No one will ever accuse the Yankees of taking the high road, don’t get me wrong, but seriously, as a catcher you should be the first to understand the unwritten rules of the game. The Yankees hit TWO Toronto Blue Jays batters prior to the pitch that whizzed past Posada’s backside in the 8th innings. This is a common occurrence in baseball known as protecting your own interest, or better yet, just getting even. Posada chose to ignore the obvious and made it personal, evidenced by his immediate reaction to reportedly mouth the words “you don’t want to do that”. It was enough that the benches almost cleared right there, no harm no foul, let’s move on right???

Oh no, not Jorge Posada. Apparently he’s way too special to be a part of such a natural occurrence in baseball. Something I didn’t realize being a fan of his workman-like attitude as a catcher and classic baseball disposition. The guy looks like he could have played in any era. So to my surprise what happens? Posada ends up scoring on a double by Brett Gardner, and as he passed Carlson he throws out his left elbow towards the reliever. It was so blatant, even home plate umpire Jim Joyce called it “…very unsportsmanlike … It was a cheap shot.”

Benches cleared as Gardner and Posada began to tussle, and Gardner was consumed by a pile of Yankees jerseys that had a much shorter distance to join the melee.

MMA is just not for me coach!

Gardner reportedly felt his arms get pulled down before receiving a blow to the head that left a very large welt. Looking at the replay it seems very unlikely that Posada got the damaging blow in, but Toronto catcher Rod Barajas and Yankee reserve outfielder Shelly Duncan were involved in separate showdown towards the end. Later Posada made a very interesting comment, proving he knowingly made the poor decision by letting his own ego get ahead of his team and moral obligations. “I don’t want my kids to see that. … Fight in the middle of the field, benches clearing — that’s a bad example.”

Not only did he set a terrible example for his own kids, Posada’s Yankee followers in the stands chose to make poor choices with dangers consequences. A an idiot Yankee supporter decided to throw a full soda bottle out onto the field and hit third base umpire and crew chief Darryl Cousins in the knee. He received a bruise bad enough to keep him from returning to the game, as a three man crew finished off the last inning and a half. X-Rays taken were negative. On a side note I hope they find this person and ban them for life, they are not true baseball fans just because they have tickets that close to the field.

Upon further review, besides the obvious in regards to fighting, Jorge Posada’s Yankees are on track to runaway with the AL East and are heavy favorites to reach the World Series.

Maybe Jorge just needs a hug!

They have so much more to lose than the Blue Jays, who by mid-season were trying to unload their top 5 richest contracts as a concession to the season. What the Yankees don’t need is their star catcher injuring his hand in a fight, suspended for a week of important season ending games, and getting other players involved in his personal disputes. His teammates are not going to let him fight alone, and Jorge should know that by now unless he’s so insecure that he feels he needs to test them. For a 24 year old rookie maybe this mistake happens and you learn from it. But for a 38 year old veteran and World Series champ, I’m very very disappointed Jorge.